These buzzing, biting, stinging insects seem to turn out in droves this time of year, making gardening a not-so-pleasant pastime.

In fact, they often become intolerable, particularly bald-faced hornets. Just ask my wife, whose foot swelled up nearly three times its normal size after being stung years ago.

Worker hornets chew up weathered wood, mix it with a starch from their saliva, and use the mixture to build their nest. Weathered wood is what we have plenty of in our backyard -- the swing set, fence, deck. And the hornets love it. They land everywhere.

I’d had enough of battling bald-faced hornets, no-see-ums and other flying insects for the afternoon. As I retreated to the safety of the indoors, a flash of inspiration came.

Why not garden later in the evening, when stinging bees and biting flies are returning home for the night and mosquitoes haven't quite yet mounted a full-fledged assault? That might be the ideal time to finish weeding and spreading bark under the swing set.

The sun began to set.

It was time to implement “twilight speed gardening.” I raced outside. "Speed" is critical in "twilight speed gardening." After all, it is twilight, and you have less than an hour to wrap up the day’s gardening tasks.

I grabbed the tools and began weeding under the swing set as fast as my hands would move. My younger son soon arrived outside to join me. "Excellent!" I thought to myself. Now I could be done in half the time.

Trouble was, there seemed to be twice the weeds. From the kitchen window in the distance, it hadn’t looked like nearly so many.

The sky grew darker. Twilight was waning. The buzzing of mosquitoes began to fill our ears. I felt the pricking bites of the no-see-ums.

My younger son shoveled bark into the wheelbarrow and rushed it to the swing set.

Speed was the key. If we kept moving, perhaps the evening’s first wave of mosquitoes would be discouraged from attempting to make soft landings on our skin. And perhaps the no-see-ums would have a harder time finding our flesh.

We worked quickly to distribute the bark.

But not quickly enough. The sun set. So much for the “twilight” part of “twilight speed gardening.” Now we were simply down to “speed gardening.”

Not wanting to grapple with bald-faced hornets in the morning, I was determined to finish. I switched on the outdoor lights.

We hurried, loading and emptying wheelbarrows filled with bark a second, third and fourth time.

Now, the mosquitoes were coming out in full force. The no-see-ums were finding us no matter how quickly we moved.

We threw down the final handfuls of bark.

"We'll touch up any bare spots tomorrow," I told my younger son as we parked our gardening equipment and headed for the safety of the house.

“Twilight speed gardening” had hardly been a success.

Yes, we did avoid the flies and hornets. But the mosquitoes evidently had been informed of my plan ahead of time. And the no-see-ums had been lying in wait all along. We have the bite marks to prove it.

Apparently, you can’t beat all the insects all the time -- or as it turns out, even some of the time.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:

"What is the best time of day to work in the garden?"

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Bald-faced hornets

A bald-faced hornet is a black insect about five-eighths to
three-quarters of an inch long with white to cream-colored markings on
the head and at the end of the abdomen.

It is a beneficial predator that feeds on flies and caterpillars.

The bald-faced hornet has a smooth stinger and will sting repeatedly
if the nest is disturbed. It does not usually sting when away from the
nest. Its venom may result in a more painful sting than that of
honeybees because its venom is stronger.

If you are stung, soothe the area with ice.

Source: Cornell University, Department of Entomology

No-see-ums

No-see-ums, also known as midges, sand flies or punkies. are small
biting flies barely visible to the naked eye.

No-see-ums are most active in early mornings and evenings.

A bite can cause an intensely itchy, small red welt (an eighth of an
inch or so) or a water-filled blister.

Treatments include topical cortisone creams and aspirin or ibuprofen.

To prevent bites, wear long sleeve shirts, long pants, shoes and
socks, and a hat.